Mourinho accuses Pellegrini of "killing" referee Clattenburg

LONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho reopened his spat with Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini on Friday by accusing the Chilean of hypocrisy and saying he had "killed" referee Mark Clattenburg with comments he made earlier this month.

Mourinho launched his latest broadside when he met the media before Chelsea's match with Aston Villa at Stamford Bride on Saturday, choosing to attack Pellegrini for lambasting England's top official.

Pellegrini had criticised Clattenburg following his side's 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Sept. 13, accusing him of costing City points both in that match and against Liverpool last season.

City and Chelsea drew 1-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, after which Pellegrini claimed Chelsea played "like a small team" for choosing to defend their 71st-minute lead, before Frank Lampard scored a late equaliser against his old side.

After initially claiming he would not make any comment about Pellegrini, Mourinho said: "It was not once or two or three times that he told everyone he doesn't speak about referees, but he killed Clattenburg.

"Three or four times he says he doesn't speak about me or my teams, he did it once more. It's for you to comment. When I said I don't want to speak about him, that's what I try to do.

"Don't speak with me. If you want a story, speak with him not me. I follow my line. I don't want to discuss any situation."

The sullen-looking Portuguese, whose team are top of the Premier League after four wins and a draw in their opening five matches, also refused to talk about Lampard or Aston Villa, apart from saying Saturday's opponents had "many qualities".

He did say that Brazilian midfielder Ramires was injured and would miss the match as well as next week's London derby against Arsenal. (Reporting by Mike Collett; editing by Toby Davis)